Chapter Seven - A Meeting With Voldemort
Peter Pettigrew, better known by his fitting nickname, Wormtail, stumbled shakily into the derelict and crumbling mansion. The mansion was set deep into the Forest of Tenebrae, which in Latin means, Forest of Darkness. The term well suited the dank and ugly forest.
The Forest of Tenebrae did not exist to any Muggles, for the forest was unplottable and hidden deep in the very northern tip of Scotland. A very dark wizarding family used to reside in the old mansion until the entire line was killed of by the Light side in the Last War. Voldemort found the forest and mansion to be very acceptable to gather his Dark Army and form anymore plans. In other words, it was his hiding place.
Wormtail stumbled through the dark corridors of the mansion as slowly as possible, a group of five Death Eaters following him, seeming no more happy then him to be there. As loyal as the Death Eaters were to Lord Voldemort, they feared him above all others and many wished to never look upon or be in the presence of the Dark Lord. Voldemort knew of this, which was even worse.
A meeting had been called by Lord Voldemort with the purpose of him trying to get all the information he could on the progress of the revealing of the Heirs. Summoned with Wormtail were his companions on this mission, Malfoy, Nott, Crabbe, Goyle, and Avery. Voldemort found none of them to be very capable except for Lucius Malfoy but Wormtail knew the full details of his plans and the others had physical strength on their sides.
Finally, Wormtail came to the large, black, iron doors that led to Voldemort's study. Wormtail shivered as he pushed the heavy doors open, remembering his awful experience the last time he had entered these doors.
Voldemort was standing by the fireplace which was emitting large, green flames. His pale skin looked sickly from the light of the flames but his blood red eyes glared at all of them maliciously. All six bowed very low to him until he spoke in drawling voice, "Stand."
The voice blasted like ice through their bodies and all of them shivered unconsciously. An eerie chuckle admitted from his lips before he gestured a spider-like hand to the large, black table with seven, high-backed chairs surrounding it.
"Sit, my Death Eaters. We have much to discuss."
Voldemort sat himself in the largest chair at the head of the table and the others quickly took their places around him. He stared at all of them in a way that showed he was looking into them, trying to read their minds and figure out their loyalties. He finally spoke after a long silence.
"Well, if my informs were correct, it seems that two of the Heirs have finally been revealed."
Lucius Malfoy nodded and said swiftly, "Yes, My Lord. The Heirs of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff have now shown themselves, though I do not understand how a filthy Mudblood could be an Heir." He sneered at these words.
"You underestimate the Prophecy, Lucius," Voldemort said in an oddly calm voice, "Whether the foolish girl is a Mudblood or not, she is still very powerful and intelligent. Ravenclaw had her reasons for choosing her."
Lucius fell silent though a brooding darkness remained on his face.
"I assume, Wormtail, that the subjects were disposed of in a way that did not appear to have Dark Magic on it?" Voldemort questioned.
Wormtail jumped at being addressed. "Ah...um...yes, My Lord! We...we...made sure that it appeared to be the Light side that...umm...disposed of the subjects. It was done very quickly and we left small clues around to point to Dumbledore."
Voldemort made an angry noise deep in his throat at the mention of Dumbledore and stared sharply at Wormtail. "What kind of clues?"
Wormtail squeaked and said quickly, "Um...just...just a few things that would make it appear to be the work of Aurors. We transfigured some scraps of fabric to look like the color of their robes, as if some had been torn off. We even...umm...wrote out a short letter with instructions on the order of who to kill with the initials AD on it. Someone will surely find it and the Heirs will assume it was Dumbledore who ordered the killings."
"Ah...perfect. Just the way I wanted it to go," Voldemort said, a note of happiness in his voice, "Everything is going off wonderfully."
He paused and looked quickly at Lucius, giving him a pointed look. "You know who has to be taken care of next. The next Heir must be revealed soon. You know what you must do, Lucius."
"Yes, My Lord, I am well prepared for the task," Lucius said quietly, a hint of glee in his cold, gray eyes.
"Very well. Make sure it goes off well, no mistakes. I have much hope for the next Heir, he is the one, I believe, whose loyalties will sway the most. I must have one Heir on my side or all is lost for us. Trust is such a key factor in their chances of winning, I must destroy that chance!" Voldemort gave an evil smirk and stood from the table. The others made to stand but he waved them back down impatiently. "Sit down, you fools, I have another mission for you to complete after the last two Heirs are taken care of."
Voldemort started pacing, obviously going over the plan in his head once more. The Death Eaters waited, wondering what their next task might be. "You all well remember last year, I am sure," he spoke softly, "the Prophecy I tried to steal about Harry Potter and myself. I was unsuccessful and still do not know the entire prophecy, which angers me." His eyes blazed even more for second before he continued. "In the Department of Mysteries, in that same room with all the Prophecies, lies the many foretold by Merlin. His lie in the very back of the room, in a dark corner where few venture anymore. I have never actually heard the Prophecy about the Four Heirs and it is crucial that I hear it. For though the Prophecy is written in many books, the piece of information I need is never told within them. The means by which the Four are suppose to vanquish the evil is told and to stop myself from my own destruction, I need to know what this power is."
Voldemort stopped pacing and turned to the Death Eaters, who were all watching him intently. "Four names are listed underneath the Prophecy for those four were believed to be the Heirs. One of the names is wrong though, this person is not an Heir and as the Heirs will be almost completely untouchable at the present time, I need you to find this one person and you are to bring him to me. Only a person whose name is on a Prophecy can touch it and bring it down from the shelf. First, you must kidnap this person and then bring him to me. My instructions on finding the Prophecy and bringing it to me intact will follow afterward. Can you all do this without blundering it up?" he snarled at them.
"Yes, My Lord," Nott muttered immediately, "we will bring you this person."
"B..but...My Lord...how...is it even possible? How can y...you expect..." Wormtail started to stutter.
"Crucio!" Voldemort said lazily.
Wormtail fell to the ground, his screams echoing loudly in the room. Voldemort lifted the curse finally and said in amusement, "My dear Wormtail, will you ever learn that you must not question me? Never. Do. That. Again." His words filled with absolute anger.
"My Lord," Lucius said suddenly, standing up and bowing in respect, "who, may I ask, is this person we must take captive?"
Voldemort turned to him, twirling his wand in his hand. "Ah yes, forgot that bit didn't I? It's quite easy though, the one Harry Potter will miss most."
"But My Lord," Avery said quickly, "aren't we suppose to kill that person?"
Voldemort ignored the continued whimpering sobs of Wormtail and responded, "Well then, use your brain for once and kill the person he cares for second best. Harry Potter is already a powerful wizard, though not as much as the Light tries to make of him. He will not need to be provoked much to show his true powers and the kidnapping of his friend will add nicely to his anger." Voldemort gave a snide smile.
"Now, go off and finish your first mission and then bring the Muggle-lover to me." He flicked his wand at Wormtail. "Get up, you idiot, you have work to do!" Wormtail was made to soar over to the door and landed in a heap in front of the entrance. He scrambled to his feet and rushed from the room, Voldemort laughing maniacally after him.
The other Death Eaters filed out after Wormtail, each bowing low. Lucius paused slightly before the Dark Lord and whispered in an evil voice, "I will make sure mine will pay."
"And then your loyalties will truly be proven, my dear Lucius," Voldemort said with a pointed look.
Lucius bowed low and then swept from the room. Voldemort turned back to the fire once the Death Eaters had left, that sinister smile sweeping across his evil face once more. "Oh Harry Potter, I am going to make you suffer! You shall never defeat me!"
Author's Note: I am SO incredibly sorry for not updating this story in almost forever! I have had the most hectic life lately and I know it's not an excuse but I hope you guys won't be too hard on me! My first year of college was a real adjustment for me and now I'm going to be entering my second year and that one will be hard too, since I have to apply to the Interior Design school in the spring. This summer as just been one thing after another. I have a job at a retail store, I'm taking a class over at a college near my home, and just this past week, my dog of eleven and a half years died. My whole family is taking that very very hard. So, I've just been caught up with so much, I hope all of you can understand though. I've almost completed this story on another site so I will REALLY try to post as often as possible. I will not make you wait as long for updates anymore, I can promise that.
I know this chapter is a short one and only consisting of Voldemort but it's needed to advance the plot. The next chapter will be more about the Heirs and I can tell you that never again in this story will there be a chapter with just Voldemort involved. Please review and again I am so sorry about the wait! Thank you for all sticking with me though.
PhoenixFirebolt